Missing
Tereasa Sue Knuth
Knuth, approximately 1981
Date and time person was reported missing : 08/24/1981
Missing location (approx) :
Frisco, Colorado
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 09/19/1958 (62)
Age at the time of disappearance: 22 years old
Height / Weight : 5'1, 110 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A pastel blue, pink, green and yellow lightweight sweater, blue jeans and square-toed riding boots.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Knuth was last seen in Frisco, Colorado on August 24, 1981. She was staying with her boyfriend in a converted school bus at a squatter's camp. He stated she disappeared from the campsite, leaving behind her identification, cigarettes, jewelry and other belongings. An extensive search of the area turned up no sign of her.
Duane Eugene Owen confessed to Knuth's murder in 1986. He wrote to the Colorado authorities four days after he arrived on death row in Florida, convicted of the 1984 murder of a woman and a fourteen-year-old girl. He said he'd killed three women in Colorado, and described a victim wearing clothes similar to Knuth's.
Police were able to determine that Owen was living the area when Knuth disappeared, but when they dug in the area he indicated, they found nothing, and he later retracted his confessions. Police cannot completely eliminate him as a suspect in Knuth's disappearance. He remains in Florida awaiting execution.
Knuth's disappearance remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Summit County Sheriff's Office
970-423-8908
September 2021 updates and sources
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
The Doe Network
The Summit Daily News
The West Palm Beach Post
October 12, 2004. April 2, 2018; Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
